In general, a banknote processing apparatus for determining the authenticity of a banknote, inserted therein and accepting a genuine one, is installed in a service machine such as a vending machine, a money changing machine, a pinball dispenser or a token dispenser, and a sheet guide forms a portion of this banknote processing apparatus.
Furthermore, as an example of an application of this kind of sheet guide, in addition to the apparatus for guiding a banknote described above, there is also an apparatus for guiding a card, into a card processing apparatus which guides an inserted card along a card passageway, and during which time, reads and writes information on various storage areas formed on the card.
Meanwhile, this kind of sheet guide ordinarily comprises a banknote conveying path provided inside a main body, and a banknote conveying path width varying means for changing the width of the banknote conveying path in a plurality of stages.
The banknote conveying path width varying means, as disclosed in Unexamined Japanese patent publication Kokai No. 9-16826, for example, comprises a mating groove, which is formed parallel to the banknote conveying path in the side of the banknote conveying path, and mating members, which are formed parallel to banknote conveying path, and which mate to the mating groove in a freely detachable manner. By attaching different shaped mating members to the mating groove, it is possible to change the width of the banknote conveying path.
With the sheet guide of the aforementioned type, by providing a plurality of mating members, the shapes of which differ in accordance with the width of a sheet, selecting the one mating member among those that correspond to the width of the sheet to be conveyed, and mating it to the mating groove, it is possible to change the width of the banknote conveying path so that it corresponds to the width of the sheet, without replacing the entire sheet guide.
In particular, when a sheet guide is utilized in a banknote processing apparatus, it is possible to change the width of the banknote conveying path so that it corresponds to the different widths of paper currency from countries around the world, without replacing the entire sheet guide.
However, in accordance with the conventional sheet guide described above, the banknote conveying path width varying means comprises a mating groove, which is formed in the side of the banknote conveying path, and mating members, which mate to the mating groove in a freely detachable manner. When changing the width of the banknote conveying path, it is necessary to perform the work, first, of preparing a new mating member with a shape that corresponds to the width of the sheet, next, of removing the mating member that is attached to the mating groove, and then, of attaching the new mating member to the sheet material guide. Consequently, the job of changing the width of the banknote conveying path has the drawback of being complicated and troublesome.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a sheet guide, which does not have the drawback of conventional sheet guide such as above, and which is capable of changing the width of a banknote conveying path using a simple operation in a plurality of stages.